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“On my way to run some errands, and I heard some very loud swearing. Thought I’d check it out.” Colby’s soothing voice washes over me like a caress. His gray eyes flick to the offending tire and return to mine. “Not a great way to start the day, huh?”

“You think? And it’s only my second day at New Horizons!” I grit out. “Wait. Why aren’t you at practice?”

“We’re off today.” He leans in closer to see what’s happening in the cargo area, and a warm, woodsy man smell envelops me. He’s fresh out of the shower, and damn does he smell good! I almost forget that I’ve got a flat and need to get to work.

“I can’t get the bolt unbolted.”

He nudges me out of the way, but I don’t move too far. Besides his heady scent, I’m loving the heat rolling off his body. It’s damn cold down here in this concrete box.

“I think it seized up,” he informs me from inside my car. Then he brings himself upright and looks down at me. Cripes, he’s tall! “Have you ever changed a tire?”

I straighten to my full height. He’s still friggin’ tall. “How hard can it be?”

“Pretty damn hard if you can’t get the parts you need to change it.” His grin broadens, and I want to wipe it off his face. This isn’t funny.

“Do you have a lug wrench I can borrow?” There’s a whiny tone to my plea I don’t like.

“I have a better idea.” One hand cuffs my upper arm while the other one swings the door shut. “Get your stuff.”

“Get my …? Why?”

He bobs his head to the side. His hand still encircles my arm. “Get your stuff, and I’ll take you to work. That way you won’t be late. We can deal with this later.”

“But I … I …” I sputter like a clogged sprinkler.

He lifts a dark eyebrow. “Or would you rather be late? I hear that’s a great way to impress the boss.” The grin is still plastered on his gorgeous face, and his eyes twinkle with mischief. My knees turn gelatinous, and that’s not good.

“I could do it, you know.” My chin raises a defiant inch as I elaborate. “Change the tire.”

A chuckle rumbles from his chest, and it’s a deep, warm sound that wraps around me. “I’m sure you could, but you don’t have time right now. C’mon. Move your cute little ass.”

My cute little ass? Is he flirting with me? Whatever he’s doing, it’s causing a flight of butterflies to launch inside my stomach.

He releases his hold, and I scurry to pull the Jeep forward the whole foot it rolled back before gathering up my stuff. I trail after him to his giant white truck, and he rounds the bed and opens the passenger door for me. Yes, I rode in his truck the other night, but I don’t remember it being this high. As my eyeballs calculate how far up I have to leap to land in the seat, he lifts me up by my waist and places me on it. Just like that.

Grasping the edge of the door, he leans in. He’s right there. “All good?”

Besides my heart that’s threatening to break through my rib cage and thump its way to the other side of the garage? “Great. I’m great.”

“Okay, then.”

I nod like a bobblehead. “Okay, then.”

When he climbs into the driver’s seat, I side-eye him. “Thanks for the lift. Both of them.”

A slow, sexy smile spreads over his face as he puts the truck into gear. “Anything for my first mate.”

Quitting time rolls around, but I’m deep in a project and not ready to go. Brandon leans on the door frame to my office—my very own tiny office, and I’m thrilled to have it, even if it is windowless. “Whatever you’re working on, it’ll wait till tomorrow.”

Brandon’s in his mid-forties, wears wire-rimmed glasses, and has brown hair shot through with strands of silver. He’s a little soft around the middle and has a smile that could light the night sky. I know, I know. It’s only my second day, but I really like my new boss. I liked my old one too, but Brandon has a more relaxed it’ll-all-work-out vibe to him.

Even so, I’m on the verge of arguing with him about staying a little longer, but then it hits me. The reputation that follows me says I can’t be trusted alone in the office.

He nods as though he’s read my mind. “It’s not what you think. While we all appreciate your enthusiasm, I don’t want you burning out after your first month. We want to keep you around, Jackie. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have added your bio to the website. Besides, you’ll make me look bad if you leave after me.” His brown eyes crinkle with his smile.

A rush of tears catches me by surprise, and I blink back the sting in my eyes. Hearing that they want to keep me is a salve to my tattered confidence and lets loose a wave of emotions.

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.